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LCC students learn and earn at Bent's Old Fort

Ledger Staff Report

Posted:
07/21/2014 03:16:14 PM MDT

LAMAR - The National Park Service (NPS), through Bent's Old Fort, is generously supporting the local community by providing funding for students of Lamar Community College (LCC) to participate in a hands-on field school.

From July 14 to Aug. 14, several students from Lamar Community College will be working with the facilities NPS staff at Bent's Old Fort to learn about and help with the on-going preservation work at the site.

"We couldn't be more excited about this partnership," said George McQueen, historic building technology adjunct instructor for Lamar Community College.

"For people who like to work with their hands, the best way to learn is by working with their hands," said McQueen. "Since the park service literally wrote the book on historic preservation, there really couldn't be a better place to learn the application of historic preservation techniques."

As part of the field school, the students are earning college credit towards a certificate or degree in Historic Building Technology. Students will also gain skills in traditional masonry and woodworking, such as adobe block construction and repairing/replacing damaged Cottonwood posts, vigas and latillas along the fort's portales.

Other repairs will include handrails, doors, and historic weatherization using strips of Buffalo hide as weather stripping.

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LCC has partnered with HistoriCorps to facilitate more hands-on projects for students. Since its founding in 2009, HistoriCorps crews have saved over 140 structures in 15 states with over 50,000 volunteer/student hours.

LCC's Historic Building Technology program is a member of the National Council for Preservation Education (NCPE).

This project is in part funded by the Historic Preservation Education Foundation (HPEF).

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